Acanthistius joanae

Scalyjaw Koester
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Anthiadidae
Genus:	Acanthistius
Species:	A. joanae
Binomial name
Acanthistius joanae Heemstra, 2010

Acanthistius joanae, also known as the Scalyjaw Koester, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Serranidae, the groupers and sea basses. The species is found along the shores of the Indian Ocean in South Africa. ^{[1] [2]}

Length

The fish gets up to 14.0 centimetres (5.5 in) in length. ^[2]

Etymology

The fish is named in honor of Joan Wright, the assistant of Phil Heemstra, who initially discovered the fish. Heemstra had promised Joan in a note he had written that he would name the fish after her, however this was not done until after she had retired around 25 years later. ^[3]

References

1. Heemstra, P.C., 2010. Taxonomic review of the perciform fish genus Acanthistius from the east coast of southern Africa, with description of a new species and designation of a neotype for Serranus sebastoides Castelnau, 1861. Zootaxa 2352:59-68.
2. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Acanthistius joanae". FishBase . December 2020 version.
3. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (22 September 2018). "Order PERCIFORMES (part 4): Suborder SERRANOIDEI: Families SERRANIDAE and ANTHIADIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 12 October 2025.